Development When asked about the future of the series following the
first season,
showrunner Steven S. DeKnight said that
Daredevil "is one part of the bigger plan—
Jessica Jones,
Luke Cage,
Iron Fist, and then
The Defenders. How that all fits together, and whether or not there will be a second season of this show—or if it will fold into the others—are questions nobody really has answers to yet." In November 2014, DeKnight said that there "probably will be more" seasons of
Daredevil following the first. In January 2015,
Netflix COO Ted Sarandos stated the series was "eligible to go into multiple seasons for sure" and Netflix would look at "how well [they] are addressing both the Marvel fanbase but also the broader fanbase" to determine if additional seasons would be appropriate. On April 21, 2015, Marvel and Netflix announced that the series had been renewed for a second season, with
Douglas Petrie and
Marco Ramirez replacing DeKnight as showrunners as well as acting as executive producers; both served as writers in the first season and worked closely with DeKnight and series creator
Drew Goddard. The season introduces the
Frank Castle / Punisher, whom DeKnight and the writers had wanted to introduce in a
post-credits scene during the first-season finale but were unable due to the way that Netflix begins the next episode during the credits of the current one. DeKnight felt that this "was the right decision. I think there's a better, more organic way to introduce him to the world." Ramirez referred to the second season internally as "Daredevil vs. the Punisher". In September 2015, Goddard explained that he was still involved with the season as an executive producer, consulting with Petrie and Ramirez when asked to. The season consists of 13 hour-long episodes.
Writing Ramirez talked about how the second season would be different from the first, saying that the writers had spent the first season wondering "if there was a place for dark and gritty content in superheroes" and because of the positive fan reaction to that ("we got a loud answer of 'yes), approached the second season with the mindset, "you wanted grounded and wanted dark, here's Elektra and Punisher. You asked for it." Petrie, talking about the potential use of flashbacks in the season, said that sometimes it is best to "peel back the layer of the onion through flashback, or two people in a room talking can have all the power in the world. That's something we get to pick and choose." On including the Punisher specifically in the season, where he is introduced to the
Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Goddard felt television was the best fit for the character, as the writers are "able to do things on the small screen that fit that character better than if we had to water him down for the movies." Goddard stated that the season's approach to the characters and their actions would be to do what makes sense for the characters rather than "pushing the boundary" or looking to shock the audience, though he noted that this could still go in a more "adult...darker, dirtier" way due to the freedom of Netflix and the presence of characters such as the Punisher. Petrie stated that the writers hoped to "stir the pot" and "get people to think" with the inclusion of the Punisher and his lethal methods, adding, "Taking lethal justice into your own hands in America in 2015 is tricky shit. We have not shied away from the rich complicated reality of Now. If you've got a gun and you're not the police you're going to incite strong feelings." Ramirez added that Castle was not referred to as "Punisher" in the
writers' room, similarly to
Wilson Fisk not being called "Kingpin" for season one, as it allowed the writers to think "about [Castle] as a man with a vendetta, who made an oath to his dead family. The more specific it got, the less it became about issues outside of Hell's Kitchen or other things." In the series, the moniker of "The Punisher" is given to Castle by the media due to his aggressive actions. For the timing of introducing the new characters, the
showrunners decided to introduce the Punisher immediately and hold back on Elektra briefly, with Ramirez explaining that "one of the pitfalls when we have this many great characters to play with is wanting to throw them at the wall", but it was important to take the time to introduce the new characters properly to the audience, particularly to the people who weren't already familiar with them. Elaborating on the aim to keep the story focused on Murdock, Petrie revealed that the writers would often come up with "amazing stuff" for the season, but then realize that they had forgotten about Murdock and had to "completely turn it over and look at how this affects Matt and filter it through that prism." Ramirez added, {{Blockquote
Charlie Cox explained that with Wilson Fisk imprisoned following the first season, season two picks up with "the crime rate [having] plummeted. Things have returned to normal, if not better than normal", which is when Punisher is introduced, who makes
Matt Murdock "question everything. Matt has to reevaluate and what he does".
Jeph Loeb, head of
Marvel Television, said that "if season one was really about Matt's decision to become a hero, then season two really became about what is it to be a hero." By introducing the Punisher and Elektra, the writers were able to "push and pull" on Murdock, contrasting their three ideologies—the Punisher seeing "justice in a very black-and-white kind of way", and Elektra living "more in the gray". On Elektra in particular, Loeb said that she has a very clear, self-motivated agenda, and she challenges Murdock's own agenda and "quest for justice. Who are you doing this for? Why are you doing this? What's the end goal that you're trying to achieve?" More backstory and
story arcs had been created for the characters Nobu and Gao, but this was not used, which Nobu actor
Peter Shinkoda attributed to Loeb not caring about Asian people.
Casting Charlie Cox,
Deborah Ann Woll,
Elden Henson,
Rosario Dawson, and
Vincent D'Onofrio return from the first season as
Matt Murdock / Daredevil,
Karen Page,
Franklin "Foggy" Nelson,
Claire Temple, and
Wilson Fisk / Kingpin, respectively. In June 2015,
Jon Bernthal was cast as
Frank Castle / Punisher, and
Élodie Yung was cast as
Elektra Natchios a month later. In September,
Stephen Rider joined the cast as
Blake Tower. Also returning from season one are
Royce Johnson as
Brett Mahoney, Susan Varon as
Josie,
Geoffrey Cantor as
Mitchell Ellison,
Scott Glenn as
Stick,
Peter Shinkoda as
Nobu Yoshioka,
Rob Morgan as
Turk Barrett,
Matt Gerald as
Melvin Potter,
Peter McRobbie as Father
Paul Lantom,
Amy Rutberg as
Marci Stahl, Kevin Nagle as
Roscoe Sweeney,
Wai Ching Ho as
Gao, and Suzanne H. Smart as
Shirley Benson. Ron Nakahara, John Pirkis, and Marilyn Torres have recurring roles as
Hirochi,
Stan Gibson, and
Louisa Delgado, respectively, while
Michelle Hurd and
Carrie-Anne Moss reprise their
Jessica Jones roles of
Samantha Reyes and
Jeri Hogarth.
Design Joshua Shaw designed costumes for characters in the season. Petrie stated that more layers were added to the series' atmosphere to keep the season dark but provide more clarity to the viewer, an issue that occurred in the first season. Petrie also talked about the costumes for characters such as Elektra, noting that they had to not only look at the comics and "what looks cool", but also "what would you really fight in? What would protect you? [...] will people be wearing kick ass costumes in this show? At some point, everybody does. We promise. But, that said, we want to make them feel as organic and grounded as possible. Lorraine Calvert joined the series as
costume designer for the season. On adapting Elektra's costume for the season, which in the comics usually consists of impractically "strappy" red cloth, Calvert decided to make it utilitarian and appealing, while still being faithful to the comics. Originally starting out opposite of the eventual sleek design for both her fighting and daytime attire, Calvert said, "Ideas were tossed around about how she was possibly bohemian, [because] she was a free spirit who traveled all over the world with as much money as she possibly could." This eventually led to the final, sleeker design, because Elektra "really needs a very simple, elegant line because too much cloth is overwhelming." The costume consisted of "black moto pants, a one-piece zippered body suit, a sleeveless vest, and red cloth to provide the highlights and the hood covering Elektra's face." The shade of the red used for Elektra throughout the season was chosen so it would not clash with the red in Daredevil's costume, as well as to match the darker tone of the series. Daredevil's costume was also upgraded in the season, with Calvert calling it "a much more fluid suit and much more tactical in a way." The costume department "streamlined" the suit to make it simpler, using less material on the gauntlets and boots. Cox described it as a "delicate area" that required some "tweaks" after the brief use of it at the end of the first season. He noted that the changes are weaved into the storyline of the season, including the need for a new, redesigned mask, and a lower-half of the suit that is closer to the original cargo pants that the character wore earlier in the previous season. These baggier pants gave Cox and his stunt double much more maneuverability.
Filming Production on the season began in July 2015 in
East Harlem, with the working title
Ringside, and a nine-day-per-episode schedule. Filming locations included the
Metro Theater;
Roosevelt Island;
Greenpoint, Brooklyn;
Long Island City;
SoHo for exterior shots of Murdock's apartment;
Newtown Creek; the
Forest Park Carousel;
Bayside, Queens for Castle's old home;
Green-Wood Cemetery and Catacombs;
East Village; the
Bronx County Courthouse;
Tribeca;
Hell's Kitchen; the
Brooklyn Navy Yard;
Fort Totten and tunnels inside
Bayley Seton Hospital for when Murdock confronts the Hand; and
Calvary Cemetery. Filming ended in December 2015.
Martin Ahlgren joined the series as
director of photography for the season, deciding to "go in a slightly different direction" than the first season, but retaining "the yellowish street light color that gave season one a very distinct style". Ahlgren filmed season two in
4K resolution on
RED Dragon cameras, and tried to use in-shot lighting such as lamps and car headlights, as well as "4×4 Light Blankets—flexible sheets of LED that was small enough to fit into tight locations and light enough that it could be taped to a wall, yet outputs a very nice soft light that can be adjusted from daylight to tungsten color". Ahlgren highlighted the car chase at the beginning of "Guilty as Sin" as a challenge, noting the many ninjas chasing the car, and the one that "jumps up on the car and travels on the roof for a block", with all the stunts filmed on location. An Ultimate Arm, "a motorized crane mounted on a Porsche Cayenne", was used for the sequence, a break from the series' usual handheld and steadicam operations. The chase was shot over two nights in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, with the interior of the car then filmed on a green screen stage, a rarity for the series, "to give the actors a better environment to act in". On the season's fight sequences and choreography, Bernthal said, "The fights are all character-driven and the fights tell a story". Cox added that "there is absolutely an attempt to make sure every punch or kick that is thrown is like a line of dialogue; there is motive behind it, there is reason behind it, it means something". Cox's stunt double, Chris Brewster, explained how the series' fight choreography has evolved, with the first season having shown Murdock just starting out as a vigilante—"he fought with all heart and soul, but wasn't a polished fighter. He was more raw and gritty"—while the second season sees the character having learned from previous mistakes—"his style is more defined and thought out now, but he will always fight with the Daredevil flair". As for the fighting styles of Punisher and Elektra, Brewster said that because of the Punisher's military background he uses a lot of weapons, and his "hand to hand style is more of a close quarter combat nature", while Elektra was trained by Stick and the Hand, so she has similar movement to Daredevil who was also trained by Stick. "However", Brewster continued, "The Hand are trained assassins who are all about stealth takeouts and quick kills. Her style shows elements of" that as well. The season uses multiple different martial art styles, including
kali, Chinese
kung fu,
wing chun,
kenjutsu, and
boxing. The one-take fight in "New York's Finest" in which Daredevil fights gang members down a staircase was described by Cox as "kind of like an homage" to the first season's well received one-take hallway fight scene, and "almost like that scene on crack". Silvera noted that it is a metaphorical "descent into Hell" rather than a "test of will" like the first season's scene. The stunt team had three days to prepare the fight, and the final sequence was filmed in a day and a half. Unlike the first season's scene, which was shot on a set and used a camera mounted on a ceiling track, the stairwell sequence was filmed on location, and required the camera to be passed around multiple people to get the final shot. The season includes another homage to the hallway scene in "Seven Minutes in Heaven", where the Punisher has his own hallway fight. Silvera noted that this "full-blown", murdering Punisher was "a strong contrast to Daredevil". For all the season's fights, the stunt team filmed a
previsualization version using stunt doubles, with the actors, such as Cox, then shown this in sections on the day of filming, and allowed to make adjustments where necessary. Though the actors completed the majority of the fights, doubles were used for flips and major stunts.
Visual effects Shade VFX returns from the first season to work on the visual effects for the series.
Music By September 2015,
John Paesano had begun composing music for the season. He felt that the season's new showrunners "were true to what we were trying to do in season one. There were just elements in season two that we had to acknowledge" such as the Punisher and Elektra. He jokingly said that "it's not like we all of the sudden went into
John Williams territory, you know? It's definitely still dark, still gritty [...] but it definitely jumps up a couple levels." When approaching the characters of Punisher and Elektra, with whom Paesano was familiar from the comics and previous adaptations, he "took all those preconceived notions I had with a grain of salt" and waited to see what the season's interpretation of the characters would be. Paesano worked closely with the series' sound design team, spotting episodes with them to coordinate where "we were going to hit what" and "maintain that definable aspect of New York" and its sound. A soundtrack album for the season was released digitally by
Hollywood Records on July 15, 2016. All music composed by John Paesano, unless otherwise noted.
Marvel Cinematic Universe tie-ins On references to the larger MCU, Ramirez said "those little
Easter eggs that come along the way are fun", but there were times when the writers did not take opportunities to reference the rest of the universe because they felt like distractions from the series' narrative and characters. Petrie stated that the writers wanted to "keep it in Hell's Kitchen" and focus on issues such as "the air conditioner doesn't work at Nelson and Murdock. That's really what we're interested in." He explained that the real life New York City "has a larger than life presence" with celebrities that live there—"If you see
Derek Jeter walking down the street, that's great, but then you turn the corner and you get into an argument with the guy who overcharged you for a pretzel. We want our guys to be real New Yorkers." The season features the
motorcycle gang Dogs of Hell, who were first introduced through their Nevada chapter in the
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. episode "
Yes Men", and
Roxxon Corporation, a company featured throughout the MCU. It also mentions the vigilantes
Jessica Jones and
Luke Cage, the death of Oscar Clemons, and the law firm Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz, which are all references to the
first season of
Jessica Jones. When Claire Temple first appears in the season, she has "a cut in her eyebrow", which Cox was told would be explained in
Luke Cage, saying, "the timeline had been thought through and worked out so that whatever's going on in
Luke Cage ... somehow at some point during that show, the next day she's in the hospital talking to me." ==Marketing==